Altering Paths
by PinkAngel17
Summary: Brody must make a decision that could drastically change her life. Angsty Prody twoshot.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:New Orleans

A/N: So this happened. It'll only be a twoshot.

* * *

The transfer request form sat in front of her on the coffee table. The formal words and empty spaces for the transferee's information seemed to taunt her. She'd already filled in her name and birth date. There were still several empty boxes to fill out, but it could be done in a relatively short amount of time. She could probably get it done tonight. Tomorrow morning she could have it sent in. In a week, maybe two, she could be in a new state and new office with agents she'd never met before.

No more LaSalle and their teasing. No more Loretta and her always helpful advice. No more Sebastian and his quirky, sometimes downright strange, geekiness. Patton wouldn't be there to try and, mostly jokingly, flirt with her anymore.

And there would be no more Pride.

She wouldn't have to try and ignore her feelings while around him and wouldn't have to feel guilty for letting her self-control slip and giving into how she felt. She wouldn't have to look at him every day and remember what they'd done that night when their defenses had been down and they'd given into the urge to connect with someone else.

It shouldn't have happened. He was her boss, she was a junior agent, and even though he was divorced she couldn't imagine that he was completely over it. She never should have let it go as far as it had.

As the memory of them stumbling into his bed, his lips trailing warm kisses down her neck with every step, flashed through her mind, Merri leaned forward on the sofa and covered her face with her hands. This wasn't how she'd wanted things to go. She loved her life in New Orleans, loved the people she had come to call family, and didn't want to have to leave already.

She hadn't left when the _Moultrie_ investigation had been reopened and had thought that would mean she could withstand anything. She had obviously been wrong. One single night and she was seriously contemplating transferring out of New Orleans. Pride would probably think she was being weak and that she was running away again.

He'd be right this time.

She'd tried not to let it affect her, but after three weeks she couldn't shake the emotional storm raging on inside of her. They hadn't really discussed what had happened that night, but she had believed she could handle it. Now she was at the end of her rope and didn't want to even try anymore.

It would be easier for both of them and for the whole team if she just left. She could tell he still thought about the night as well. Every once in a while she had caught him watching her with a faraway look as if debating something with himself. It hadn't yet effected their work, but it was only a matter of time. And if things between her and Pride got complicated or messy than the consequences would spread to the rest of the team.

Leaving was the right thing to do for everyone. The team could go back to functioning as they had before she'd come to New Orleans and she would start anew somewhere else where she could distance herself and reinforce her defenses.

Brody opened her eyes and stared at the form on her coffee table. It both repelled her and tempted her. She didn't want to leave her home, but it would be for the best. As a responsible NCIS agent it could even be argued that it was her duty to transfer.

With a deep breath Merri reached for the transfer form, letting her hand rest on the paper for a brief moment before sliding it off the table and holding it in her hands. She stared at it for another minute while reading the impersonal words and trying to convince herself of the decision she knew she needed to make.

After what felt like an eternity she reached for the pen on the table.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I think it's pretty obvious by now.

A/N: I forgot to mention it in the first chapter, but I was actually going to keep this as a oneshot (and keep it angsty) originally, but BonesBird demanded I keep going. This is the final chapter, but it kind of got a bit long. It picks up immediately where the last chapter left off. Enjoy!

* * *

"Don't do it."

Brody quickly stood from the sofa, her hand reflexively going for the gun that would normally be at her hip, and turned towards the voice of the intruder. By the time she was facing him her brain had already registered who the voice belonged to though.

It was Dwayne Pride. He was standing in the archway of her living room and watching her intently. She thought she saw a hint of sadness in his expression, but he was doing a pretty good job at hiding whatever was going on in his head. She was almost certain she read a bit of anger mixed in there though.

She tried to fight her own irritation at noticing that. "What are you doing here?" she asked, brows furrowing in confusion. She hadn't heard a knock and she knew she'd locked the door just like she always did. "How did you get in?"

"I asked Loretta to let me borrow a key," he answered. "When I told her why I wanted it she gave it to me."

"You told her about...what we did?" she asked disbelievingly and more than a little irritated.

"No," he answered. "I just told her I was worried about you and I doubted you'd let me in."

"Not letting you in doesn't seem to be one of my problems," she muttered while looking down to where she'd dropped the pen. Somewhere along the way he'd been able to gradually get under her skin, prying some of her most hidden secrets out of her, and getting past her guard. Just another reason to transfer. It was easier to avoid getting hurt if people couldn't get too close in such personal ways. "Why didn't you try knocking first at least?" she asked louder while bending to pick up the pen.

"I did. You must not have heard me."

She rolled her eyes at that. She didn't think she'd been _that_ distracted. "You must not have knocked loud enough." She winced lightly at her tone. Angry or not, she shouldn't be talking to him so bristly. "Sorry," she added. "That wasn't called for."

He smiled lightly, almost sadly, and took a step further into the room. "No, it wasn't uncalled for. I should have waited longer. You _have_ come into my room without knocking before though," he pointed out.

She smirked a little and sat back down on the sofa. "Only when you invited me or knew I was around." She looked him over as he continued standing in place. "So why are you here?"

"You've been distracted all day."

"We spent all day doing reports," she defended. "LaSalle zones out all the time on report days."

"You don't though. Not like you did today."

She held the transfer request tighter and looked away. "Look, King, I..."

"I was worried about you," he interrupted. "Especially after what happened the other night."

"I don't really want to talk about the other night," she quickly told him. "It's done and we can't take it back." There was nothing they could do to erase what they'd done, no magic potion to get rid of the memories, and very few options they had now.

"I didn't say I wanted to take it back." He took another step closer, but she kept her gaze locked on the coffee table. "I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I did. I wouldn't want to change anything that happened though. What happened between us..."

"Was a mistake," she stated flatly. "It shouldn't have happened." She figured that was a given, especially since they hadn't bothered to discuss any of it afterwards.

"I don't think it was a mistake. I think it was one of the best decisions I've made lately." He closed the distance between them until he was standing at the end of the coffee table. "The mistake would be if you transferred."

She glanced from the paper in her hand up at him. "How did you know?"

"Just a gut feeling," he answered. "Plus Christopher saw you print out the form."

Merri had thought she'd cover her tracks well. She had known LaSalle had passed her and the printer as she printed it out, but she had hoped he hadn't really noticed what it was she was printing. "Figures." She turned the paper so she could look it over again, not bothering to try and hide it any longer. This seemed to be what her future would be. Constantly moving, searching for the place she'd be able to settle into, and making mistakes along the way. "Leaving is what's best for the team," she added. "It's better for everyone if I don't stick around."

"Better for everyone or just easier for you?"

She tensed and gripped the pen firmly while trying not to get angry. "Don't turn this around on me, King. I know I should have stopped what happened, but now I'm trying to fix my mistake. Just let it go."

"I can't do that."

"Try hard."

"Letting it go would mean letting you go," Pride said. A second later he was crouching down just in front her. "And letting you go would be the worst decision I could make."

"Pride, we can't do this. Whatever this is," she added. "It'll only lead to trouble." She didn't let herself think about what he was actually trying to say. It would only make it harder for her to do what she knew she needed to.

"Not if we don't let it and even if it did I think it'd be worth it." Pride reached over and covered her hand with his. She could feel a sense of warmth and tenderness in the touch that she had come to only associate with him. It made her heart ache at knowing she'd soon lose that warmth. "We need you here, Meredith. The team is better with you as a part of it. You're family. I don't have any intention of pushing you to do something you don't want to do," he continued. "I can't make you decide to stay with us...or with me...but I want you to know and to fully understand that I don't want you to go, Merri. Whether as a friend and teammate or something more, I just want you around. I haven't felt what I feel for you in a long time." He looked at their hands and a saddened expression was clear on his face. "I just wanted you to know before you make any decisions."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It'd be a mistake to stay. You and I both know what happens when agents are distracted." She let the statement hang between. He knew enough about the _Moultrie_ to understand and she'd heard enough stories of past cases to know he would have similar experiences.

Why he would even think anything about this would work she wasn't sure. He should be encouraging her to go, but instead he was trying to talk her into staying and implying that he felt something for her. At this point she wasn't even sure she could believe those implications though. She wasn't sure of anything at the moment and it was a feeling she didn't like at all.

What was Dwayne Pride doing to her?

"I should tell you something," she muttered. "When we slept together it wasn't the first time I'd….thought about it."

Pride didn't speak right away. Instead he stood and took a seat next to her on the sofa, but didn't move the hand that was covering hers. He was turned to partially face her, but she didn't make an effort to look at him. If she could, she would close her eyes again and wish him away so she wouldn't have to deal with having him around while she made the choice of whether or not to transfer.

"If you want to go, then go." He took the form she had clutched in her hand and placed it on his knee as if to give her a hard surface to write on. "But don't do it because you think it's what I want. Do it because you want to. I think it'd be a mistake. I _know_ it would be, but it's your choice." He took the pen from her hand, removed the cap, and then handed it back to her. "If you're going to do it, do it while I'm here though so I'll know."

She lowered the pen to the paper, but hovered just over where her signature would go. "Before you decide," he continued. "Just know that nothing happened that night that I didn't want to happen….and that I hadn't thought about before too."

The pen touched the form as he spoke and Merri watched as a small dot of ink began to soak into the paper. She had a decision to make and this would be a life altering choice that could change the course of both their lives.

She could stay and deal with the fallout, possibly ruin the team's dynamic, and threaten both her and Pride's personal and professional lives or she could transfer and force herself to leave the people she'd begun to trust and love like family. Leaving could be seen as the easy way out, some might even call it cowardly. She had always prided herself for her courage though.

She was no coward.

She wasn't weak.

Would it be worth it though? Would it be worth the risk to her heart? If she did stay they would either continue as close to normal as they could and ignore what happened or they'd explore a new relationship. Either way could lead to complications and either one could eventually cause heartache. There _were_ reasons she didn't date or take part in relationships anymore.

Hadn't she sworn to herself she was done avoiding her demons though?

She'd taken risks before and had never been afraid of them. Only when it came to risking her heart did she hesitate these days. Maybe it was time to start taking chances in that area again. She was strong enough to face what would happen. She would just have to keep telling herself that and fight the voices in her head that whispered about impending mistakes and fallouts.

With a deep breath she lifted the pen from the paper and tossed it onto the table. "I'm going to regret this."

The smile that spread over Pride's face was warm and happy and clearly showed his relief. "No you won't." He tore the transfer request form in half and seemed a little too pleased to be doing it. "I'll make sure of it." He crumpled up the two strips of paper and tossed the ball onto the table to join the pen before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He shifted so she was tucked against his side and then leaned his forehead against the side of her temple. "Trust me."

She couldn't help but to trust him. "I do."

"We'll take it one step at a time," he assured her before bringing her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "And we'll do it together."

Together.

That sounded nice.

The corner of her lips twitched upwards. It was a nice feeling to not be alone and she could get used to the warmth of being so close to him. "Loretta didn't really give you the key, did she?" Merri asked softly.

"No," he admitted sounded amused and a little abashed. "I asked and she said you were probably just needing to sort some things out on your own. Sebastian walked in though and so I…"

"Borrowed the key," she supplied dryly. "Without asking."

"Yeah. She'll kill me later I'm sure."

"Think that will be worth it too?"

She felt him smile against her skin as he nuzzled her hair. "Definitely worth it." He pulled away for a moment and she tried not to give much thought to how cold she suddenly felt. A second later he ran his fingers through her hair as if mesmerized by the short strands before slowly trailing his hand down to the back of her neck.

She looked over at him and what she saw staring back at her could only be summed up in one word. It was a word she had avoided using for a long time. There was practically no way to deny what it was though.

It was love.

He didn't make a move, but she could feel the tension building around them. He wanted to kiss her, but didn't want to push her into something she herself wouldn't want. She should probably break the hypnotizing stare they were locked in. Her common sense seemed to be crumpled up along with that form on the table though.

She brought her own hand up, placing her palm to his cheek, and watched as he closed his eyes at the touch. Maybe he was remembering the last time they were so close, the last time they so feely touched the other without care of titles or consequences, or maybe it was just some strange affect she had on him. If it was anything like the affect he had on her, than she could understand.

Without another thought she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips to his. It was only a ghost of a kiss, a feather light touch, but it took only a brief moment before they became lost in the act. It was only the need for air that finally forced them to pull apart.

"One step at a time," she whispered as he rested his forehead against hers. They would need to talk and figure out where this was all going, but it didn't seem as daunting at that very moment. "I think I like that idea."

"Come on," he said. He stood before turning, taking her hands, and pulling her up with him. "We'll get some dinner and celebrate your decision."

He seemed far more happy about her staying than she'd ever expected and it made her smile in return. As she allowed him to pull her towards the kitchen she could only chuckle at his good cheer. There would probably still be obstacles in their path, but she was becoming more confident in the fact that she had at least chosen the right path to take. The world didn't seem to be closing in on her quite so much now.

'_Yeah_,' she thought to herself. '_This is the right decision_.'


End file.
